WEEDING QUESTION

[acehole 1]

Hello to all new here & new to vinyl cutting I got my cutter awhile back got everything working been cutting decals & doing ok got a job cutting some small letters (1/2" - 3/4") whats the trick to weeding these I am having some trouble any help will be appreciated  thanks to all who reply

[BannerJohn 1,324]

Letters that size are not easy. The only thing I do is remove the centers of the o's,p's,etc...BEFORE I weed the rest. I also use a DENTAL PIC which is a lot easier on the smaller stuff. You can get them online,Harbor Freight,and even some Auto Parts stores (They use them for removing 'o' rings)

[Guest Terry]

what banner said, and try testing different speeds and down force.

[Guest Terry]

1. If you don't have the force set high enough, your graphics will be harder to weed.

2. You can use a light table. (this is a table that has a glass top, with lights under, making it easier to see the cuts)

3. If the graphic on the computer does not have closed line, you will end up with some places, that are not cut.

4. If you offset is not set correctly in your software, weeding will be harder.

Hope this will help you.  If you have any questions on what I said, just ask.

Well put - I forgot about the offset, that has caused problems with others.

[dgreenh 9]

I pick at it with an xacto knife in one hand and tweezers in the other hand, the third hand I use to hold down the decal... or you can use tape if you haven't yet evolved into a true weed monkey. 

[mlee8249 0]

I find a couple of things that help with weeding for me. First, I am very picky (pun) about the brand and type of vinyl I use. If I can afford it, I use 3M 7125 or 7725 HP vinyl. It handles great in all temperatures and cuts really clean. Second, I pay a lot of attention to the pressure to insure I get proper cutting depth.  With 3M, I use 80 grams. Next, I weed by pulling the junk away from the letters at an angle, rather than just straight across the lettering. I normally start from the upper right corner and pull towards the lower left of the paper. When I get it all going for me, I can literally rip the weeded junk away in one quick pull and the graphics are perfect. I don't get along with Oracal, and a couple of other brands.  Arlon, Avery and 3M are what I prefer. I also prefer to use HP vinyl as it is normally thinner and because I apply this stuff to radio controlled model aircraft, the vinyl will not disturb the airflow over the wings on my high performance planes. Airflow disturbance can occur with as little as 3-mil. on the wings, depending on the airfoil and airspeed. Just my 2-cents

[crash5050 0]

Hey, I am looking to start making decals for my airplanes, do you have any good ones?  DA, Futaba JR, etc...

[mlee8249 0]

Do I have any good ones?  Actually, I scan them from ads and literature.  But, because I do this for models that I am reviewing for the magazines I write for, I don't really keep them as I go through quite a few. But, if you decide to scan, get the largest print or graphic you can to scan. Small graphics only amplify the distortions and flaws to big distortions and flaws when you enlarge the scan. If you get a big one, they look sharper when you reduce the size. The ones you mention, like DA, Futaba, JR and all, you can get the graphics from those guys for free.  They are all too happy to have you advertise for them for free. The main reason I would scan and cut my own would be if I needed an odd size version of that logo for the model. Otherwise, I just reproduce it from the fonts on the computer and go from there. I also download a lot of graphics from the internet and then go from there. Something like an instrument panel I simply copy, paste in WORD, size it to the size of my actual dashboard, then print it, cut it out and glue it to the dash. Instant instrument panel.

Thanks!

[vectorman 0]

another offer is not to weed.

take the letter block and aplly it to the surfece without weed it

afther u stick it well then peal it.

in this way uour letters wont move and your eyes will stay pt :bang:

[Jerry Bonham 1]

One more suggestion is that if you are doing small or fine fiddly work that does not use a lot of vinyl then buy 3M cast.

Or another brand. Just that i am familiar with 3M.

This is very thin and very easy to weed when doing this type of work.

Jerry from SignBlazer

[vectorman 0]

who know what is the best taype of knife for small letters is it 30 degree or 60 degree

[mark-s 1,126]

60 for anything  small, but use nothing but 60 for everything.

Makes tighter turns.

mark-s

[Jerry Bonham 1]

Hello VectorMan,

There still appears to be confusion over blade angle and offset.

Here it is again.

This IS CORRECT>

For small work or fine work below 5mm or 3/8 inch.

50 degree angle with an offset of 0.15

Note these are hard to obtain and expensive.

They are not suitable for stepper cutters (All Chinese ones)

Chinese cutters or all steppers cutters should cut perfectly down to 10mm or 1/2 inch

It is not recommended to go below this size with stepper cutters

For normal work you should only use

Blades with an angle of 36 degree to 50 degree with an offset of either 0.25mm or 0.30mm

For thicker media such as fluo you should be using

Blades with an angle around 50 degree with an offset of 0.50mm

For sandblast tape and other really thick stuff

Blades with an angle of around 60 degree and an offset of 0.75mm

Summary

Small stuff Offset of less than 0.20mm

Normal work Offset from 0.25 or 0.30mm

Thick stuff Offset from 0.50 to 0.75

It is the offset that is important not the blade angle.

Just think of it this way

small offset small letters

big offset thick media.

Jerry from SignBlazer.

[Popeye 0]

Jerry,

One thing that might be important to point out is the blades you talk about come specifically with those offsets.

Most of the generic blades regardless of the angle are .25mm offset.. (or at least the ones I've gotten. Using "your" higher or lower offsets on a standard .25mm blade would only make it worse...

Correct?

[Jerry Bonham 1]

Some confusion here

Your only ever use the offset on the blade packet.

The offsets i am referring to are the manufacturers' offset.

You enter this into your software or cutter is it has this feature.

YOU DON"T CHANGE IT EVER.

The angle is controlled to some extent by the diameter of the blade.

Roland and Mimaki Blades have different thicknesses.

Hence the angle is different.